


The Curse of a Mushroom

by ghostmaya



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: AU where Claudia and Rayla are on the same team, Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Claudia gets cursed, Curse Breaking, Curses, Day 1: Domestic/Adventure/Injury, F/F, I went with both injury and adventure, Injury, Magic, POV Claudia (The Dragon Prince), POV Rayla (The Dragon Prince), Raydia, RaydiaWeek2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-22
Updated: 2018-10-22
Packaged: 2019-08-06 02:45:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16379939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghostmaya/pseuds/ghostmaya
Summary: “Curses interest me, what can I say.” She shrugged, smiling brightly up at Rayla, her eyes sparkling in the moonlight. The tips of Rayla’s ears grew warm, and she had to deepen her frown to keep herself from smiling back. “And yes! I know the cure! It’s a fantastic one.”Rayla squinted at Claudia. “Fantastic as in ‘easy to cure’ or fantastic as in ‘it’s really difficult so it interests me.’?”“Uh… the second one. But don’t worry! We should be done in twenty-four hours at the latest.”





	The Curse of a Mushroom

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first fic I wrote for [Raydia Week 2018](https://raydia-week.tumblr.com/)! I've never written for the fandom before so this is really exciting!  
> The prompt was domestic/injury/adventure and I ended up with both injury and adventure :^)

Rayla gripped her knife, squinting into the dark. She had heard something, but she didn’t want to wake the others. 

She slipped off the rock she was perched on, and crept towards the woods. The sound had come from her right. The cool night air sent a shiver down her spine as she reached the border of the forest, the sounds of nightlife downing out Callum’s obnoxious snoring. 

She heard a twig crack and a scream- Claudia’s scream- about twenty feet away. Shit. She started running that way, using trees to kick off of and stay unheard. She was ready to fight off whatever attacked Claudia. 

She gained higher ground, hopping between branches, saw a purple light glowing in the distance, and heard Claudia scream again. She jumped back onto the ground, now knowing exactly where to go, running up behind Claudia and pulling out her knife, ready to slash… at nothing. 

“Rayla! Thank  _ goodness  _ you’re here, I almost  _ died _ .”

“What happened?” She glanced around, holding out her knives defensively.

“Well, I was going to pee, but it was the middle of the night, and obviously I didn’t want to wake up anyone, so I went out  _ really _ quietly, so then I peed right? And then after that happened I was walking back, and an owl flew out of nowhere! Can you believe it?”

Rayla groaned, putting her knives back into their sheaths. “And then you tripped and fell and twisted your ankle or something, right?”

“Well actually, I think I angered a magic mushroom because I tried to pick it, and it attacked me and may have possibly cursed my ankle, but you were close.”

“ _ What _ ?” Rayla squatted next to Claudia. “Can I see?”

Claudia’s boot was already off her foot, but she pulled up her pants. “Oh, that’s very interesting.”

“Interesting?! You were  _ cursed _ ! Do you know the cure?”

“Curses interest me, what can I say.” She shrugged, smiling brightly up at Rayla, her eyes sparkling in the moonlight. The tips of Rayla’s ears grew warm, and she had to deepen her frown to keep herself from smiling back. “And yes! I know the cure! It’s a fantastic one.”

Rayla squinted at Claudia. “Fantastic as in ‘easy to cure’ or fantastic as in ‘it’s really difficult so it interests me.’?”

“Uh… the second one. But don’t worry! We should be done in twenty-four hours at the latest.”

“Twenty four hours! We’re supposed to be twenty-four hours away from here by then. Ugh, let me guess… we have to climb a mountain?”

“Close once again!” She bounced her finger off Raylas nose. Rayla instinctually brought her own hand to her nose, as warmth crept into and along her cheeks and nose. “It’s in the depths of a cave!”

“Oh. Okay.” Her nose still tingled where Claudia’s finger was. 

“Uh. Earth to Rayla.” Claudia waved her hand in Rayla’s face, and Rayla immediately snapped her head up. “We have to get going. If I don’t get the cure in… twenty-four hours my leg’s  _ probably _ gonna fall off.”

“Right, right. Yes, let’s get going.” Rayla turned around. “Here, climb onto my back.”

“Uh… oh. Okay!” Hands wrapped themselves around her neck, and she stood, propping Claudia’s legs under her arms. 

“Any idea where we’re going?”   


“There’s a cave with the ingredients that I need about six kilometres west. Well, according to the locator spell I cast.”

“Alright. Hold tight.”

* * *

 

Claudia yelped as Rayla zoomed through the forest, gripping tight to her chest. Her leg throbbed painfully, but the wind and hair blowing in her face were almost enough to distract her from it. 

Rayla’s hair smelled like moonberries, and it was soft. Then some got in her mouth. She struggled to cough it out. It definitely did not  _ taste _ like moonberries. 

She started to shift a bit and gripped onto Rayla even tighter. Then she realized that Rayla may be choking, so she loosened her grip. Then it looked like they were about to run into a tree, and she yelped and held onto her tightly again. 

Rayla was so _ fast _ . Usually when Rayla ran her hair flowed in the wind and she held her hands out behind her back, but she was carrying Claudia instead so she couldn’t run like she usually did. That was really nice of her. 

They made a sharp turn, and Claudia’s leg swung outwards, sending sharp pain up her back. She bit her lips to not make a sound, she didn’t want Rayla to worry any more than she was worrying already. 

Rayla started to slow down, and Claudia could make out the cave that was nearing. When they came to a halt, Rayla squatted and Claudia used her good leg to lower herself onto the ground. Rayla sat down with her, panting.

“Woah girl, you okay?” 

“Other than having just run six kilometres with an extra hundred pounds in ten minutes, I’m just peachy, how about you?”

“Could be better.” Claudia gave a weak smile. Her leg was really hurting. 

“Oh no, your leg looks horrible,” said Rayla, moving closer.

“What?!” Rayla looked down at her leg, her exposed foot was now covered in blue splotches. “Oh, this is  _ amazing _ , the mushroom’s curse has to be really strong for my leg to be this bloated. Remind me to try and pick it again afterwards.”

“Absolutely not,” Rayla said, ripping a piece of cloth off of her shirt and wrapping it around Claudia’s ankle. 

“Rayla! Your shirt!”

“Come on now, don’t worry about me,” Rayla said, securing the cloth around Claudia’s foot. She looked up at her, and Claudia could see the worry in Rayla’s lavender eyes. “Does that feel alright?”

“Y-yeah,” she gulped, seeing how ridiculous she looked reflected in Rayla’s eyes. “I’ll have to make you a new shirt when we get back though.”

“It’s just a shirt,” Rayla said, turning around. “Hop on.”

Claudia wrapped her arms around Rayla’s neck again, wincing when Rayla picked her legs up into her arms. 

They made their way into the cave at a walking pace, and Claudia probably hugged Rayla a bit closer than was necessary. How did her hair smell  _ this good _ ? The pain in her leg started to become a throbbing numb feeling, which was probably worse in the long run, but a relief for now. 

“Oo!”

“What? Is it the thing you’re looking for?”

“No, it’s a Ruby Beetle! They’re not only extremely useful in potions, but also extremely delicious.”

Rayla let out a chuckle, her shoulders bouncing up with Claudia’s arms. “You’re absolutely ridiculous.”

“Is that a bad thing?” asked Claudia, pouting.

“No! No- it’s actually a nice change of pace. You’re always just so  _ happy _ it’s hard to get worried sometimes.”

Claudia felt heat rise in her cheeks. “Oh! Well, in that case, thank you!” She really hoped Rayla didn’t notice her heart beating right into her back. 

Rayla didn’t say anything. Claudia felt her shoulders rising and falling with every breath as they trudged forwards. The cave was darker than she remembered, and it was really chilly. The only sound was their breathes and Rayla’s footsteps. Claudia’s arms were starting to hurt.

“The flower that I need shouldn’t be much farther,” said Claudia, not liking the silence. 

“Alright.” Rayla stopped for a moment, boosting up Claudia. A sharp pain went through her leg and she let out a yelp.

“Are you okay?” 

“I'm… fine,” said Claudia through gritted teeth. “Just keep going… please.”

“Okay…” Rayla sounded skeptical but kept moving forward. 

Claudia started getting a bit light-headed, and she lent into Rayla, breathing in her nice smelling hair. The pain was starting to numb again, but so was her consciousness. 

She had to stay awake if she wanted the cure. 

The cure… she needed the cave flower… where were they?

“Claudia!”

“I'm awake!” 

“You have to stay with me for a bit longer okay?” 

Claudia moaned as a response. 

“Okay, uhm, can you tell me how to make this cure?”

“You have to… take the flower and cast a… Wilt by the Moonlight spell…”

“Wilt by the Moonlight? That's Moonshadow elf magic! I can do that.”

“I guess that would make sense, since ‘Moon’ is in the name of the spell.” 

“Is that it?” said Rayla, stopping in front of a flower.

Claudia looked at the flower. It was yellow, with red tips. “Oh no…”

“Oh no? What's oh no this time?”

“It's the wrong… stage of growth.”

“Well… is there anything we can do to fix it?” Claudia could hear the panic behind Rayla’s voice.

“Well… we can either wait until the next full moon, which is… 15 days from now… or if one with the moon exchanges a secret… whatever that's supposed to mean.” 

“We can't wait fifteen days, Claudia! There's not enough time!” It was getting difficult to hold onto Rayla, and when her back stiffened she almost slipped off. “I think I figured out your stupid riddle. I'm going to put you down, alright?” 

Rayla let Claudia down onto the ground gently. Claudia yelped again when her leg touched the ground. 

“Sorry!” Rayla bit her lips. “I really hope this works.” She took in a breath, “Claudia. I think you're really nice and pretty and you're really great to hang out with.” 

“Uh…” if her leg wasn't hurting so much she'd definitely be a blushing mess. 

Rayla hit her fist on the ground next to the flower. “Bloom you stupid plant!” Nothing happened. “Fine! I have a crush on Claudia, is that was you wanted to hear!?” 

The flower started to turn blue, the colour covering the petals, spreading across like ink. 

“Okay, there! It bloomed!” said Rayla, face red. “What do I do now?”

“You… have a crush on me?” Claudia didn't know how to take this information. She was also in excruciating pain. 

“Yes, okay? Please just tell me what to do.”

“Cast Wilt by the Moonlight… and take me and the flower back to camp… I have to make a potion with it.”

Then, everything went black. 

* * *

 

Rayla rocked back and forth, twirling her thumbs and watching the pot cook, and Claudia sleep. 

She had managed to revive Claudia for enough time to make the potion, which required a twenty-two hour wait period, and essentially a spa treatment. The steam smelled sweet but was almost sharp enough to sting. She’d managed to set it up in a way that the steam covered Claudia’s leg, which seemed to be almost healed.

Callum had woken Rayla up around ten minutes ago, letting her know that the twenty-two hours was almost up. She glanced down at Claudia again; her face seemed to stir. She groaned and opened her eyes. 

“Claudia!” Rayla scrambled to get closer to her, sitting near her head. “How are you feeling?”

“Rayla?” Claudia tried to prop her herself up but fell back. Rayla instinctually stuck out her hands, catching Claudia in her lap. Claudia’s eyes went wide. “Rayla! I need to tell you something!” 

“What!? Are you still hurt?” Rayla glanced down at Claudia’s leg, which looked fine, but she didn’t know if the curse was actually gone. 

“No, no. I never got to say that I like you too!”

Rayla was sure her entire face was red, it definitely felt like it was going to explode. “O-oh. Thanks. Uh… I’m honestly really new to all of this so…”

Claudia reached her arms up around Rayla’s shoulders, lifting herself up into a sitting position. She smiled brightly, touching her forehead to Rayla’s. They were matched in temperature. “I’m new to this too.”

Rayla glanced down at Claudia’s lips. They were so close, the hairs on the back of her neck stood from where Claudia’s hands made contact. They both leaned forward, brushing each other’s lips. It was like a dream, Claudia was so soft, and she loved holding her. 

“Wow…” said Claudia, her green eyes sparkling. “We should really do that more often.”

Rayla chuckled, letting go of Claudia. “I think I can get behind that one.”

**Author's Note:**

> [Tumblr](https://ghost-maya.tumblr.com/)


End file.
